Ink cartridge for fountain pens



Aug. 309 1966 HAJlME-ISHIDA ETAL 7 3,259,534

INK CARTRIDGE FOR FOUNTAIN PENS Filed June 29, 1964 INVENTORJ UnitedStates Patent 3,269,584 INK CARTRIDGE FOR FOUNTAIN PENS Hajime Ishidaand Hirokazu Toma, Hiratsuka-shi, Japan, assignors to PilotMan-Nen-Hitsu Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo-to, Japan Filed June 29, 1964,Ser. No. 378,515 Claims priority, application Japan, Nov. 2, 1963(utility model), 38/ 82,775 7 Claims. (Cl. 22027) This invention relatesto ink cartridges for fountain pens and more particularly to an improvedink cartridge wherein a piercing member is contained in a hollow neckportion of the ink cartridge to confront a breakable diaphragm whichnormally seals the ink cartridge.

A conventional fountain pen generally comprises an ink suction device bymeans of which ink can be sucked into an ink reservoir contained in thefountain pen when it becomes empty. More recently, ink cartridges inwhich a predetermined quantity of ink is sealed in have been utilized.Each of these cartridges has an opening at one end thereof which issealed by a breakable sealing member adapted to be pierced by an inkfeed portion of a fountain pen to permit the ink contained in thecartridge to flow out and be fed to the pen nib. When the ink in onecartridge has been consumed, the empty cartridge is replaced by a newone.

It is an object of this invention to provide an ink cartridge having asealing member which can be easily pierced or opened.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel ink cartridgewherein a piercing member is contained in the ink cartridge itselfrather than in the ink feed portion of the fountain pen as heretoforehas been the practice, thereby simplifying the construction of thefountain pen.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are setforth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself,however, as to its organization together with further objects andadvantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichlike parts are designated by like reference characters, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view, partly in longitudinalsection, showing a portion of the neck portion of a fountain pen inwhich the novel ink cartridge of this invention can be used;

FIG. 2 is a side view, in longitudinal section and of the same scale asFIG. 1, showing an ink cartridge embodying the principle of thisinvention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary side views, partly in longitudinalsection, indicating the manner in which the ink cartridge of thisinvention is used; and

FIGS. 5 to 8, inclusive, are views illustrating various modifications ofthe piercing member and the sealing diaphragm according to theinvention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, more particularly to FIG. 1there is shown a hollow neck portion 1 of a fountain pen containing anink feed member 2 with a projecting tube 3. It should be understood thatthe end surface 3 of the tube 3 will be the upper end when the fountainpen is used with the pen nib pointing downwardly. An ink cartridge ofthis invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 4 andcomprises an ink reservoir 5 of relatively large diameter and a neck 6of relatively small diameter which are joined by an inclined shoulder 7.An annular groove 8 is provided on the inner surface of the shoulder 7and a sealing diaphragm 9 is provided to span across the inner edge 9'of the annular groove 8. As shown in the drawing the periphery 9 of thediaphragm is made thin so that the 3 169,584 Patented August 30, 1966diaphragm can be easily pierced at this portion. A piercing member ortube 11 is slidably inserted in the neck 6 on the outer side of thediaphragm. The inner end of the tube 11 is beveled as shown at 12 todefine a sharp edge 13 normally disposed to confront the thin portion 9'of the diaphragm 9.

To install the ink cartridge of this invention in a fountain pen, theright hand end (as viewed in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4) of the projecting tube 3is inserted into the neck 6 of the cartridge 4, and then a force in thelongitudinal direction is applied to break the diaphragm 9 by piercingits weak point 9 by means of the sharp edge 13, as shown in FIG. 3. Thusthe ink contained in the reservoir 5 can flow out through the brokendiaphragm and thence through the opening 10 within the piercing tube 11and the projecting tube 3 toward the ink feed member 2. Further inwardmovement of the projecting tube 3 will cause the piercing tube 11 toenter into the reservoir while upwardly deflecting the broken diaphragm9 to the horizontal position as shown in FIG. 4.

Since the periphery 9' of the sealing diaphragm 9 is made thin, and anannular groove 8 is provided outside of this thin periphery, thediaphragm can be easily broken and then deflated upwardly as thepiercing tube 11 is inserted. Moreover, as the piercing tube adapted tobreak the diaphragm is contained in the ink cartridge, the fountain penis not required to be equipped with such a piercing member, whereby theconstruction of the fountain pen is simplified. A further advantage isthat the novel ink cartridge can be easily installed in fountain pens bya simple inserting operation.

While a particular construction of the piercing member and breakablediaphragm has been illustrated and described, it should be understoodthat various modifications can be made therein Within the scope of thisinvention. For example, in the modification shown in FIG. 5, thepiercing tube 11 takes the form of a short section of a tube with asharp edge 13,, at its inner end. The piercing members 11 shown in FIGS.6 and 8 are provided with saw-tooth serrations 13, and 13 respectively,whereas the piercing member 11,, shown in FIG. 7 is a short section of asolid round rod with its upper surface cut away to provide a passage 10for ink and with its inner end pointed to form a diametrical sharp edge13 The diaphragms 9 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are identical to that shownin FIG. 4, but diaphragms 9 shown in FIG. 7C and 8C are provided withradial or diametrical thin portions 9.,. FIGS. 6 7 and 8 show crosssections of the ink cartridge taken along lines VI--VI, VIIVII, andVIIIVIII, respectively, as viewed from right to left, whereas FIGS. 7Cand show the same cross section as viewed in the opposite direction.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. An ink cartridge for fountain pens comprising an ink reservoir ofrelatively large diameter, a hollow neck of relatively small diameterand connected to said reservoir by a shoulder having an annular grooveon its inner surface, a sealing diaphragm contiguous to and spanningacross said annular groove and provided with one or more thin portionsand a piercing member slidably contained in said hollow neck andprovided with a sharp edge adapted to break said diaphragm at said thinportion or portions when the cartridge is installed in a fountain pen.

2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the piercing membercomprises a short section of a tube with one end beveled to form apointed edge.

3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the piercing membercomprises a short section of a tube with one edge pointed to form anannular sharp edge.

4. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the piercing membercomprises a short section of a' tube with one end serrated.

5. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the piercing membercomprises a short section of solid round rod, with one end pointed toform a sharp diametrical edge, and a portion of the periphery of the rodis cut away to provide a passage for ink.

6. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the thickness of theperiphery of the diaphragm is smaller than the remaining portionthereof.

7. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the diaphragm isprovided with a number of thin radial por- .tions.

No references cited.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

J. B. MARBERT, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN INK CARTRIDGE FOR FOUNTAIN PEN COMPRISING AN INK RESERVOIR OFRELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETER, A HOLLOW NECK OF RELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETERAND CONNECTED TO SAID RESERVOIR BY A SHOULDER HAVING AN ANNULAR GROOVEON ITS INNER SURFACE, A SEALING DIAPHRAGM CONTIGUOUS TO AND SPANNINGACROSS SAID ANNULAR GROOVE AND PIVOTED WITH ONE OR MORE THIN PORTIONSAND A PIERCING MEMBER SLIDABLY CONTAINED IN SAID HOLLOW NECK ANDPROVIDED WITH A SHARP EDGE ADAPTED TO BREAK SAID DIAPHRAGM AT SAID THINPORTION